Honestly, it seems to me like $400 is more than a little pricey for a half day of inshore fishing. Just curious to know where some of you other guys stand on this. I mean, it’s not like a lot of fuel is burned running to Castle Pickney and back or dock-knocking in the creeks, nor is catching a few spottail and trout what I would consider the trip of a lifetime. Is this cost appropriate for the quality of the trip that is being delivered by most guides in our inshore waters? Maybe there are many other expenses that I am not considering, but it just seems like a bit much. I know guys are trying to make a living, but come on. Thoughts?
Let’s start with the purchase of a good boat, motor and trailer. Then enough rods, reels and tackle. Then, insurance and fishing permits. Prep starts the night before. At 0 dark 30, the boat gets loaded. Pickup at ramp. Guide has already put in 2-3 hours. Then he/she needs to get bait. Sometimes bait must be bought. Ice must be bought too.
Then you get in the boat. Hopefully you do not break anything - but it does happen. 4 hours of fishing uses a lot of fuel. Then back to the ramp. Then the guide goes home and washes the boat and tackle. $400 is not unreasonable! Oh, I almost forgot that all the expenses must be spread over the charters (and charters are fewer in the cold weather).
Marsha
22 Sea Hunt
Guided a little in my past and can appreciate all the things that go into providing a good/fun day on the water verses one that’s not so good.
Most guides strive to put clients on fish of choice which requires lots of time on the water +equipment +bait +license +permits +insurance+ dealing with the never ending regs being imposed almost daily. Clients can only measure the value of the day by fun experienced and fish landed while never knowing/maybe understanding
what it took to achieve it…Pricey;; maybe / maybe not ! Cost cannot
be based on money alone… One thing i can attest to is : I own my own boat and can fish along side folks paying a guide to put them on the water/fish , and at end of day i guarantee you their catch costs them a lot less than i paid for the same day.[:0]Long winded answer I know but don’t how else to say it…
[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown
I don’t think $400 is enough which is why I raisedd my rates to $450 
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Down here is where a signature goes but they can confuse and anger some people so I don’t have one.
Put gas in my boat and beer in my cooler and we’ll go
Yes it is outrageous to charge $400 for 4 hours . I have a lot more invested in my cabinet shop and I would feel like I was robbing someone to charge that much for 4 hours and that includes free time of picking up materials and cleaning up the shop .
They grin all the way to the bank .
Fritz probably charges $450 because he has no repeat customers , only one time suckers …a back at ya fritz
Marshgrass nailed it. And Fritz is right. $400 isn’t enough. Been there, done that.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
supply demand
you can still opt out I believe
StrikePosition, a 4 hour fishing trip is a full day for most fisherman, getting paid or not. I can easily spend 8-10 hours preping, fueling, ridding, launching, rigging, baiting, fishing then ridding back, loading, un-rigging, re-rigging, cleaning, repairing, storing, charging batteries and only fish maybe 4-5 hrs. Plus add in the costs involved. Sounds reasonable to me. Also I imagine, especially with inexperienced clients, the guides don’t get to fish alot, mostly baiting hooks and netting fish.
If I ever find myself not catching anything, I would call CaptFritz. Seems like he would be a hoot to fish with.
Im with Fishing Pox How many journeyman electricians, plumbers or carpenters make $100/ hour ? These are craftsman with trucks and expensive tools. too. And require a lot more skill than tying a palomar knot. Fishing is really easy. Just look at the yahoos that are guides now. You discuss them all the time here. Building custom cabinets is an art. Try to find a journeyman.
Back in the day when Patrick was on the six year plan at The College and finally realized he wasnt going to graduate, Daddy finally put his foot down and sent him to work in construction to work on the end of a shovel or join the army and learn some discipline.
Now he becomes a chefs or fishing guide.
if people stopped paying it, they wouldn’t charge so much. Or just become a new charter captain since its easy and lucrative. Also, it may not be the trip of a lifetime for a lowcountry boy, but somebody from ohio or nebraska might think it’s the greatest thing to go catch a few sharpnose and a trout.
Exactly what Peapod said. S n D.
In theory, it should be a perfectly efficient economic market where the price of the service reflects the willingness of the consumer to pay that amount. When those two lines don’t intersect properly, the market will correct (guides will lower prices or raise them if they are constantly overbooked).
Some guides in the Keys charge $750 during tarpon season, I know guides in the Bahamas that charge $650.
A big sporty here in April/May is $2300-2600.
It’s all relative.
2014 Key West 203DFS
1987 Landau
quote:80% of my trips are repeat customers. Hold on, phone is ringing for the 5th time this morning....
Originally posted by FishingpoxYes it is outrageous to charge $400 for 4 hours . I have a lot more invested in my cabinet shop and I would feel like I was robbing someone to charge that much for 4 hours and that includes free time of picking up materials and cleaning up the shop .
They grin all the way to the bank .
Fritz probably charges $450 because he has no repeat customers , only one time suckers …a
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Down here is where a signature goes but they can confuse and anger some people so I don’t have one.
[/quote]
80% of my trips are repeat customers. Hold on, phone is ringing for the 5th time this morning…
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I like ya Fritz , I see your humor even sometimes it’s a bit dry like mine . You’re OK . If I am down that way you can take me fishing (for free) and I’ll show how to really catch em .
Hope all 5 customers book ya , somebody needs that yankee money besides them 
Anyone can take someone fishing> But taking someone catching is an art form.
In all trades not everyone works at the same level of competence. The better artist they are the more their time is worth. I will have a small boat but it still has a 50+ gallon tank so a large chunk of the guide’s charge is going to refill their tank since most of them are running a lot larger engine than a 150.
Tacn
The reel* question here is what do you think a fair tip on a $400 charter should be?
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Down here is where a signature goes but they can confuse and anger some people so I don’t have one.
The right number in shore is more like $100 per hour on the water (minimum four hours) plus a nice tip if you have a good time.
A guide I have hired a couple of times and who is a friend I’ve fished with more times told me the other day that what he does for a living is tells the story of the place where he’s fishing. And they are good stories. He’s the show. The marsh is the theatre. The fish are just the extras and the stage hands. At the same time, he’s tying customer hooks and corks, unknotting wind knots, unfouling the line off the trolling motor prop, netting fish, cleaning blood off the sole, offering chips and soda, have a little more sunscreen?, talking to the other guides to find the shrimp or find the bite, etc. When a customer is on the boat, he’s responsible for a safe time and a fun time.
And if you hire his boat, you don’t have to have your own. If you are an occasional coastal fisherman, it is WAY cheaper to just drive down and hire a good guide for the day three or four times a year, and let him deal with owning the boat. If you are a new coastal fisherman, several trips with a guide will help you change from the fellow who watches a cork all day and catches nothing to somebody who brings fish (and shrimp and oysters and crabs) to the boat.
The good guides treasure the resource and will share it with you. $400 is a bargain for the greatest show on earth.
My $.02.
As for tipping, Fritz, golf might provide a good baseline -both a 4-hour luxury. Fair caddie tips are around 50% of the base caddie fee or 30% of the greens fee. Say 40% as a number. But they don’t provide equipment and, despite their advice, success is much more dependent upon the golfer’s skill. It’s more of “being there” tip which is why, like bartenders, etc., there is a smaller range. A captain, on the other hand, provides the equipment and is significantly more (perhaps solely) responsible for the client’s success. Fair? 50% of the charter fee minimum -IF it is a successful trip. If not, there has to be a bigger downside than for caddies. You can’t stiff a guy who carried your bag in the sun for four hours just because you can’t putt. But a captain? If he can’t catch? You’d have been better off renting a boat and catching nothing alone. But if the captain produces, pay up.
I’ve never hired a guide to fish, so I’m just voicing my opinion based on what little I know.
$400 doesn’t seem out of line to me. As long as the guide is knowledgeable & seems to know what he’s doing. Some days you just don’t catch fish, that’s a given, I don’t care who you are. As long as I have an enjoyable trip, catching is a bonus. If the captain is a dick the whole time, then I’m not having an enjoyably time.(tip would reflect that) Anyone who guides is in the service industry. He/she is charging me an amount of $$, so I can have a fun trip, whether I catch fish or not. If I enjoyed my trip, I feel that a minimum 20% would be ok. If not, considerably less, if at all.
Bob Van Gundy
Marine Designs,Inc.
Custom Aluminum Fabrication
803-727-4069
quote:
A guide I have hired a couple of times and who is a friend I've fished with more times told me the other day that what he does for a living is tells the story of the place where he's fishing. And they are good stories. He's the show. The marsh is the theatre. The fish are just the extras and the stage hands. At the same time, he's tying customer hooks and corks, unknotting wind knots, unfouling the line off the trolling motor prop, netting fish, cleaning blood off the sole, offering chips and soda, have a little more sunscreen?, talking to the other guides to find the shrimp or find the bite, etc. When a customer is on the boat, he's responsible for a safe time and a fun time.
Exactly, a guide has to do a lot more than just catch fish, he has to have happy clients, even when the fish aren’t biting. He knows every trick in the book to catch a fish, tricks that aren’t even in the books, but sometimes the fish don’t read the books. In which case you just have to work harder, for less of a tip. People skills are as important as fishing skills in the guide business, and if you can’t catch a fish, go catch some shrimp and oysters and clams, watch some eagles, tell some lies, do something, make it fun:smiley:
And they have to be responsible for your life from dock to dock. Even if you come from Ohio and have never been in a boat. Which requires some real expensive insurance, yearly certifications in CPR and first aid, and other stuff. And a lot of experience. A 4 hour fishing trip to the client is an 8 hour day to the guide, and he has to buy bait, ice, tackle, boat payments, boat storage, prep and clean up afterward and get ready for the next day. At the end of the day, if nothing serious breaks, he’ll (she’ll) will be lucky to clear $20-25 an hour. Plumbers and electricians make more than that.
Capt. Larry Teu